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Extreme M&A

July 7, 2008 - The exploration of strategic alternatives has gone extreme. Extreme sports, that is. The popularity of apparel and merchandise geared towards people who participate in extreme sports or action sports-unconventional sporting activities like skateboarding, snowboarding, in-line skating and BMX biking-is yielding new business for investment banking firms in time for the summer recreation rush.

Carlyle, Crown Wrap Up Real Estate Buy

July 7, 2008 - The Carlyle Group and Crown Acquisitions said last Wednesday they have completed their $525 million joint venture purchase of a controlling interest in the retail segment of 666 Fifth Avenue from the building's owner, Kushner Cos.

Mitsubishi UFJ Grows Private Placement Presence

July 7, 2008 - Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA) Inc. said last Tuesday that it hired Conrad Owen to run its new private capital markets group, a move designed to expand into an area of finance that is expected to see heightened activity amid tightening credit market conditions.

CIT Exits Mortgage Business

July 7, 2008 - CIT Group will sell its home lending business and manufactured housing portfolio in a move to reduce mortgage exposure as the global finance company redirects its focus on commercial finance.

Good Sports

July 7, 2008 - Some of the most notable names in private equity, Steve Pagliuca and Tom Hicks, have made personal investments in sports franchises, but rarely have these deal makers pursued similar bets on behalf of the firms listed on their business cards. Institutional money, though, may be slowly creeping into ball parks, race tracks and even soccer fields.

An Influx of European FIG PIPEs?

July 7, 2008 - When TPG announced it would inject £179 million into UK financial institution Bradford & Bingley, it didn't only signal the first capital infusion by a private equity firm into a UK bank. It also heralded the possibility of additional private investment in public equity (PIPE) issues by European financial services firms.

Carlyle Bolsters FIG Team

July 7, 2008 - The Carlyle Group has hired Wachovia veteran James Burr as a managing director in its global financial services group. Burr, who was most recently Wachovia's corporate treasurer, will start on Aug. 1 in Carlyle's New York office.

LBO Debt Seeps Into Tough Loan Market

July 7, 2008 - The syndicated loan financing business is certainly in a funk, but newly priced LBO debt offerings signal that all may not be as bad as it seems.

A Package Deal

July 7, 2008 - Hicks Acquisition Co., a Dallas special purpose acquisition company established by private equity financier Thomas Hicks, reached a definitive agreement to go public with Graham Packaging Holdings in a $3.2 billion transaction with The Blackstone Group, marking one of the largest transactions to be executed between a blank check entity and industrial company.

M&Ain't

July 7, 2008 - By now, it's a well-worn tale, this one relayed by an investment banker: A private equity firm in the process of acquiring a company in a deal that would normally take six months will now spend a year hoping to get it done. But at least they're trying. Extended deal time frames and the falloff by private equity firms in buying companies have been the hallmark of the first half of this year, and while industry participants predict a slight uptick, overall not much will change in the remaining six months of the year. Regardless, Wall Street banks, which have laid off thousands of bankers due to the market slowdown, will continue to feel pressure in their M&A business the remainder of the year.

'Evolve Or Perish' For PE?

June 30, 2008 - Emerging markets, sovereign wealth funds and debt availability are helping shape change in the private equity market, according to law firm Walkers.

Barclays To Raise $9B From Foreign Investors

June 30, 2008 - Barclays said last Wednesday it plans to raise $8.9 billion through the sale of 1.6 billion shares to buttress its capital base and boost its capital ratios. Proceeds will be used to 'provide additional financial resources to allow Barclays to capture opportunities for growth,' the bank said in a statement.

Standing Out

June 30, 2008 - In IDD's latest roundtable, a group of seasoned buyout market dealmakers convened in the magazine's New York offices to explore various aspects of the M&A market and the topic of buyer differentiation. Transaction structures, seller expectations, deal sourcing, private equity firm marketing and the value of operations talent were issues that took center stage in the discussion attended by Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff executive chairman James Hill, Red Diamond Capital managing director Bret Russell, Lazard Middle Market co-chief executive David Solomon, Altus Capital Partners senior partner Elizabeth Burgess and Wynnchurch Capital managing director Charles 'Chip' Grace.

Bondholders Turn To Private Placements

June 30, 2008 - Enough is enough for Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services, at least when it comes to public debt holdings. The Canadian insurance company's experience as a BCE bondholder has convinced its chief executive and president, Yvon Charest, to stick with debt private placements instead.

Gelband, Kirk Return To Lehman

June 30, 2008 - Several weeks after demoting its chief financial officer and chief operating officer, Lehman Brothers announced it brought back two senior managers and promoted two others.